Mail-chute.



PATLNTBD DBGgs, 1903. f

ENO. 746,233.

F. E. ANDERSON. MAIL CHUTE.

v APPLICATION FILED JULY a1, 1903.

H0 MODEL.

W/TNESSES;

I WZ

u WM 2 11W-1.

in: mums Firms man No. 746,233. Y

Patented December 8, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE;

FRANK E. ANDERSON, OE NEw- YORK, N. Y.

MAIL-CH UTE.

SPECIFICTION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 746,233, dated December8, 1903.

Application filed July 31, 1903. Serial No. 167.725. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK E. ANDERSON,

4 a citizen of the United States, and avresident of New York city, inthecounty of New York and State of` New York, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Mail- Chutes, of which the following is aspecification. v

My invention relates to mail-chutes designed to receive mail-matter atthe dierent floors of a building and transmit it under the iniuence ofgravity to a receptacle on a lower floor, from which the collectorremoves the mail at stated intervals.

The object of my invention is to secure greater certainty in thetransmission of the mail through the chute to the receptacle be` low,and especially to prevent the clogging of the chute. To this end itprovides a chute for the mail-matter increasing in capacity at eachfloor and insures a free passage past the several apertures where themail is deposited.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front view of myimproved mailohute, showing an aperture at one door for the reception ofthe mail-matter. Fig. 2 is a sectional view. Fig. 3 is au enlargedsectional view corresponding to Fig. 2.

In the drawings, l' is the mail-chute. 2 is the rear side thereof. Thefront of the chute is composed of sections 3. Ata convenient distanceabove the top lioor is located an aperture 4 for the reception of themail-matter. The apertures 5 at the lower ioors lead into slots 6. Thechute leads directly down from the aperture 4 O11 the top 'door untilitA reaches the slot 6, located on the floor below. At this point thechute is enlarged by locating the front of the chute a slight distancebefore and overlapping the front of the upper section. This provides,wh'ere the two sections overlap, the slot 6, formed between the front ofthe top section and the front of the lower section. The mailmatterentering through this slot is ledv into the chute at a point outside ofthe lower opening 7 ofthe upper section of the chute-that is to say, themail-matter entering at the door below the top floor is received into anenlarged chute and at a point'outside the path of the mail-matterdropping from the top floor. The

mail is outside and additional to the path of the mail coming from the'floors above'. The eect of this arrangement is to prevent clogging ofthe chute at the several points where new inail-matter is introduced.Even though at a floor below the top the mail-matter coming from abovesubstantially t'lls the chute, the introduction of new mail will notclog the chute because of 4the additional space provided for and becauseit is not projected into or across the path ofthe mail-matter droppingfrom above.

`It is usual in mail-chutes to provide at each opening a guard toprevent meddlers or thieves from interceptingthe mail as it drops pastfrom above. In my invention this is accomplished by the lower ends ofsections 3, which form theinner side of. each slot 6.

My improvementhas this advantage: The guards do not project into thepath of the mail dropping from above, so as to impede its downwardprogress, nor does the mail entering the chute at a vlower floor meetthe mail from above at an angle or cross or enter its path.

In my improved chutethe perpendicular direct ion ofthe letters ismaintained throughout their course, so that all tendency to bendingorimpact of one letter uponanother is avoided. l l

' AWhat Iclaim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-l l.In a Inail-chute having a plurality ot' mailreceiving apertures indifferent horizontal planes; a conductor extending from thevupperaperture to the receptacle at the bottom so constructed that ateach aperture below the top,its size is enlarged substantially inaccordance with the size of a slot adapted to lead the mail into theconductor, substantially as described.

2. In a mail-chute having a plurality of mail-receiving apertures and soconstructed as to provide a path for the mail enlarged at each aperturebelow the top, guards placed at each aperture parallel with and flushwith the face of the chute, substantially as described. f

3. In a mail-chute having a plurality of mail-recei ving apertures indierent horizontal planes and with a path for the mail enlarged at eachaperture, guards fixed at each aperture below the top, but notprojecting into the path of descending mail, and forming the inner sideof perpendicular slots through which mail may be inserted and guided toan enlarged area of the chute, substantially as described.

4.-. In a mail-chute having a plurality of mail-receiving apertures indierent horizontal and vertical planes and so constructed that at eachaperture an enlarged path is provided for mail-matter, guards at eachaperture below the top so placed as to form the inner side of a slot forleading mail into the chute, substantially as described.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of NewYork, this 29th day of July, A. D. 1903.

FRANK E. ANDERSON.

Witnesses:

J W. BUCHNER, HENRY SINGER.

